Device for separating a bundle of paper

ABSTRACT

A separating device readily separates a desired number of sheets of paper in bundle form from a pile of paper sheets placed on a pallet or skid without disturbing the orderly piled-up bundle. The device comprises a nozzle made in a flat, palmlike form by which a compressed air is ejected into the boundary portion between the paper bundle and the paper pile and diffused uniformly over the entire area of the boundary portion to provide an air separation layer. The nozzle has guides for effecting diffusion of the compressed air.

United States Patent Shibata et a1. [4 June 27, 1972 54] DEVICE FORSEPARATING A BUNDLE 3,334,897 8/1967 Sharkey ..271/74 OF PAPER 695,9673/1902 Thurman ....239/592 X 1,488,673 4/1924 Henderson ..271/26 [721lnvemrs= i" Shim; Akimshi 2,609,240 9/1952 Faulkner et al ....239/590.5x 5mm", Osaka Japan 3,177,794 4/1965 Laing ..239/590.5 x [73] Assgnee gFOREIGN PATENTS 0 APPLICATIONS 933,341 9/1955 Germany ..271/26 [22] 19691,244,811 7/1967 Germany ..271/26 [21] Appl. No.1 886,146

I Primary Examiner-J. Wegbreit [30] Foreign Application Priority DataAttorney-Mason Fenw-lck & Lawrence Dec. 19, 1968 Japan ..43/111281 [57]ABSTRACT [52] U 8 Cl 271/26 A separating device readily separates adesired number of [51] In. .0 h 3/08 sheets of paper in bundle form froma pile of paper sheets I 5 i 9O 5 590 placed on a pallet or skid withoutdisturbing the orderly piled- 5 up bundle. The device comprises a nozzlemade in a flat, palm.

like form by which a compressed air is ejected into the boundary portionbetween the paper bundle and the paper pile and [56] Reerences Clteddiffused uniformly over the entire area of the boundary por- UNITEDSTATES PATENTS tion to provide an air separation layer. The nozzle hasguides for effecting diffusion of the compressed air. 2,554,320 5/1951Battey ..271/20 X 2,854,150 9/1958 Shea ..214/1 1 Claim, 4 DrawingFigures P'A'TENTEDJum 1972 SHEET 1 0F 2 Inventors SEIYA Samara,AKi'l'OSI-ll Yamsnmggsoxuu Sumouo y masowfimi ammo Attorn ysPATENTEDJURN 1972 w 3', 672.666

SHEET 2 or 2 FIG. 4

- inventor; Sew SEHBATA," Am-rosu u Yamasnm IsoKA-w Samoan A llorn eysDEVICE FOR SEPARATING A BUNDLE OF PAPER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates to a device for separating a desired number ofsheets of paper in bundle form from a pile of paper sheets placed on. apallet or skid and more particularly to a device for separating a bundleof paper which is provided with a nozzle for ejecting a compressed airinto the boundary portion between the paper bundle and the paper pile.

-In the case where bundles of sheets of paper are handled as in a papermanufacturing, cutting, printing, bookbinding companies, etc. .repeatedoperations have to be carried out to separate a desired number of sheetsofpaper (i.e. apaper bundie of a desired thickness) from a pile ofpaper. A common procedure employed in conducting such operation is thatan end portion of paper bundle of a required thickness is grasped by thehand, the end portion is then lifted violently as if to throw the paperbundle upward and immediately lowered to provide separation between thepaper bundle in the hand and the rest of the paper pile, andthe paperbundle is thereafter slid on the pile for removal. However, thisprocedure has the following disadvantages:

1. In the case of a paper bundle of a large thickness, the great weightof paper requires much effort to lift it and it is difficult to providea separated layer.

2. The sheets of paper slip on one another and the orderly piled-upsheets tend tobe disturbed.

3. The above-mentioned handling-requires much skill.

The present invention provides a novel device for carrying out theprocedure described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is toprovide a device by which a bundle of sheets of paper can be readilyseparated from a paper pile.

Another objectof the present invention is to provide a device forseparating a bundle of paper which is lightweight and easy to handle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device forseparating a bundle of paper by which, when a compressed air is ejectedinto a boundary portion between the paper bundle and the rest of paperpile, the compressed air can be diffused rapidly anduniformly over theentire area of the paper surfaces at the boundary portion.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a device bywhich the above-mentioned separating procedure can be carried outreadily irrespective of the thickness (i.e. weight) of the paper bundlewithout disturbing the orderly piled-up paper bundle.

In accordance with the present invention, a device for separating abundle of paper comprisesan air inlet for feeding in a compressed air,an expansionchamber in communication with the air inlet and a nozzle incommunication with the expansion chamber, the nozzle being formed in aflat palrnlike shape in appearance and provided in its interior withguides for enlarging the air passage progressively toward the end of thenozzle.

The paper bundle separating device of this invention which comprises theair inlet, expansionchamber and a flat, palmlike nozzle in communicationwith one another is very simple in structure, lightweight andcompact'and ensures perfectly trouble-free operation.

When a paper bundle isto be separated from a pile of paper sheets byemploying the device of the invention, the compressed air dischargedbeneath the boundary surfaceof the ,paper bundle is at first retained inthe boundary portion due to the weight and flexibilityof the paperbundle and forces the opposite boundary surfaces outward with increasingpressure until the air is diffused almost uniformly between the entirearea of the surfaces. Such diffusion is achieved within a very shortperiod of one second after the initiation of air discharge. The diffusedair serves as a separation layer between the paper bundle and theunderlying paper pile to keep the former suspended on the thin airlayer. Due to the fact that the paper bundle has a weight of its own andthat the separation layer is progressively extended over the entire areain the boundary portion without resulting in partialescape of the air,possible vibration of the paper which would be attributable to suctioneffect produced by the high speed ejection of compressed air can beprecluded.

When a thin air layer serving as separation layer is formed over theentire area at the boundary, the friction force to be exerted betweenthe lowermost surface of paper bundle and the uppermost surface of thepaper pile is eliminated. Accordingly, the paper bundle can be :moved onthe paper pile with extreme ease and without applying a great force.Thus, the present invention ensures easy and trouble-free handlingoperation irrespective of the thickness (i.e. weight) of the paperbundle, eliminating the need of skilled operators, Because the paperbundles are handled readily, slippage of sheets of paper no longer takesplace, nor will the orderly piled-up sheets be disturbed.

It is possible to apply thepresent device to an automatic paper bundleseparating apparatus in feeding bundles of paper to an automaticpackaging machine or the like for automatic separation of paper bundles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation in vertical section showing the embodiment inFIG. 1 and taken along the line Il-II in FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a plan view in cross section taken along the line III-Ill inFIG. 2; and

FIGS. 4 (a), (b) and (c) are perspective views showing a paper bundleseparating device in accordance with the present invention as it isbeing used.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3,designated at 1 is a frame provided with an air inlet 2 and an expansionchamber 3 in its interior. The air inlet 2 is connected with an air duct4 for supplying a compressed air from a compressed air source. Theexpansion chamber 3 is communicated with a nozzle 5. The compressed airintroduced into the frame 1 through the air inlet 2 is allowed to expandin the expansion chamber 3 which serves to eliminate pulsatingvariations in the air pressure. As shown in the drawing, the nozzle 5 isformed in a flat, palmlike shape in appearance, the structure of thenozzle being such that it can be readily inserted between the paper pileand paper bundle to be separated therefrom and that the air can beprevented from flowing out through the openings which are formed on theopposite sides of the nozzle 5 when it is placed in the above-mentionedposition. Disposed in the interior of the nonle 5 are guides '6 forincreasing the sectional area of the air passage toward its end, theguides 6 serving to diffuse the air stream into the opening between thebundle and the underlying pile at a substantially uniform flow rate whenit is discharged from the nozzle 5. Designated at 7 is a push buttonswitch adapted to open or close an unillustrated valve provided in theair inlet 2 to open or close the air inlet.

Although the embodiment illustrated 'has a structure in which the nozzle5 is joined with the frame 1 in L-shapedform and the air duct 4 isconnected to the upper portion of the frame 1, the nozzle 5 may bedisposed in alignment with the air inlet 2 and expansion chamber 3,instead of being provided at right angle relative tothe frame 1.:ln thiscase, the opening for the air inlet 2 may be formed in the rear-of theframe 1 in communication with the air duct 4.

To separate a bundle of paper from apaper pile by employing the devicedescribed above, a corner 10 of a desired thickness of paper bundle 9 isgripped and lifted manually off a .paper pile 8 placed on a pallet 11 toform an opening between the bundle and the pile as shown in FIG. 4 (a).The

nozzle 5 is inserted into the opening so as to be located between theseparated layers of paper as shown in FIG. 4 (b) and the push buttonswitch 7 is depressed to open the air inlet 2. Compressed air is nowintroduced between the separated layers through the'noule 5. Thus, byinserting the noule 5 into the space between the paper bundle and therest of the paper pile so as to cause the air to eject toward thecenterof the under face of the paper bundle, the pressure of the airdischarged through the nozzle 5 progressively increases to lift thepaper bundle against the weight of the paper, with the result that anair layer serving as a separation layer is formed over the entire areaof the boundary portion. The air layer is retained efiectively withcontinuous supply of air. As already described the time required to formthe separation layer is a very short period of within one second.

Since the friction force to be produced on the lowermost surface of thepaper bundle is reduced nearly to zero while the paper bundle 9 is keptsuspended, the paper bundle 9 can be pushed forward and thereby slid offthe paper pile for separation irrespective of the weight of the paperbundle 9 as seen in FIG. 4 (c).

We claim:

1. A device for insertion into one edge of a bundle of paper to separatethe bundle and float the upper separated segment of the bundle on thelower segment for removal of the upper segment comprising, a body havingan expansion chamber therein, an air inlet into the expansion chamber anan air outlet from the expansion chamber, and a separate flat nozzle incommunication with the air outlet and connected to and projecting fromone end of the body at a right angle with respect to the body forinsertion between selected sheets of the bundle to separate the bundleinto predetermined segments whereby the body provides a stop to engagean edge of the separated paper segment when the noule is inserted into abundle and wherein said nozzle diverges from its connection to the body,and there are dividers within the nozzle separating the nozzle into aplurality of outwardly diverging air passages all of which air passagesare inclined in one direction.

1. A device for insertion into one edge of a bundle of paper to separatethe bundle and float the upper separated segment of the bundle on thelower segment for removal of the upper segment comprising, a body havingan expansion chamber therein, an air inlet into the expansion chamber anan air outlet from the expansion chamber, and a separate flat nozzle incommunication with the air outlet and connected to and projecting fromone end of the body at a right angle with respect to the body forinsertion between selected sheets of the bundle to separate the bundleinto predetermined segments whereby the body provides a stop to engagean edge of the separated paper segment when the nozzle is inserted intoa bundle and wherein said nozzle diverges from its connection to thebody, and there are dividers within the nozzle separating the nozzleinto a plurality of outwardly diverging air passages all of which airpassages are inclined in one direction.